BLACKSBURG, Va. /CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Two freshmen ran their way into Duke’s records book on the first day of competition in the 2013 indoor track and field season Friday, January 18 in Blacksburg, Va. Freshman Anima Banks was the first to make her mark with a time of 2:48.17 in the 1,000 meter run, finishing first in the race and placing third on Duke’s all-time list. The Mamaroneck, N.Y., native led a Blue Devil sweep of the event with senior Cydney Ross finishing second in 2:49.03 and Abby Farley finishing third in 2:51.13.

“This was a great first day, Director of Track and Field Norm Ogilvie commented, “especially by our young freshmen.”

At the end of the evening, freshman Michal Filipczak etched his name in the Duke history books, finishing the 500 meter in 1:04.19 which was good enough to place him in second for the night and third on Duke’s all-time list.

“This is the first time that he has ever run on a banked track so we are excited for him,” Ogilvie commented.

The veteran Blue Devils also had a strong start to the season with senior Juliet Bottorff winning the mile in 4:51.34. She was followed closely by teammates junior Jessie Rubin and senior Esther Vermeer who finished in third and fourth place respectively.

For the men, sophomore Nate McClafferty led the Blue Devil milers with a second place finish by crossing the line in 4:13.36, barely being outkicked by winner William Mulherin from Virginia Tech. Senior Dominick Robinson opened the season with a personal record in the same event, finishing third with a time of 4:24.01 while sophomore Shaun Thompson and Brian Schoepfer finished close behind in sixth and seventh place.

In the men’s 1,000 meter, sophomores Henry Farley and Kyle Moran had strong showings with collegiate personal records times of 2:28.28 and 2:29.05 which was good enough for fifth and sixth place. Freshman Dylan Newman also performed well in the event finishing tenth.

Several multi-event and field athletes also had a successful opening day at the Dick Taylor Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C. Junior pole vaulter Justin Amezquita highlighted the evening by clearing 16-2.75 (4.95) finishing first place in the event.

“He jumped from a short approach to work on some technique and he jumped really well,” Associate Head Coach Shawn Wilborn commented. “We were excited to see some of the technical things that we’ve been working on get better. Overall, we were really happy with his performance.”

In the multi-events, junior Miray Seward finished second in the pentathlon with a point total of 3,459, just 26 points off her personal record set last year at the indoor ACC Championships. During the five event competition, the Dunwoody, Ga., earned a personal record in the long jump with a leap of 17-0.25 (5.20).

“To open up this early and be that close to her PR is something that we are very happy with,” Wilbourn commented. “Hopefully by the time ACC’s come around she will see a lot of improvement from last season.”

Seward was joined by sophomore Baily Murphy who, participating in her first pentathlon, finished strongly in third place with a point of 3,329.

Four out of seven events were completed in the men’s heptathlon with freshman Robert Rohner leading the Blue Devil contingent with a third place finish and 2,767 points. In his best finish of the day, the Sumter, S.C., native finished first in 60 meter dash with a time of 7.04.

Sophomore Ian Rock sits close behind Rohner in fourth place with a point total of 2,748 while Marcus Montano finished the day in seventh place with 2,116 points. The trio will wrap up competition tomorrow with the 60 meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meter run.

“It always great to see who likes to compete,” Ogilvie commented after reflecting on the first day of competition in both locations. “We felt like we had practiced well over the last two weeks and we were ready. These types of meets are great so that we can see how people do with competing two days in a row because that is something they will have to do at ACC’s and beyond. We are excited for tomorrow.”

A full recap of Saturday’s competition will be available at www.GoDuke.com.